A defendant shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for up to six months.

However, the execution of the above punishment shall be suspended for one year from the date this judgment becomes final and conclusive.

Punishment of the crime

Any person who intends to convert a mountainous district shall obtain permission from the Minister of the Korea Forest Service, etc. according to classification of mountainous district types, areas, etc. for a specified purpose.

On February 25, 2019, the Defendant converted a mountainous district into a mountainous district by means of flatizing equipment, such as digging machines, etc., to cultivate crops without obtaining permission from the head of the competent administrative agency, on the aggregate of 5,840 square meters of land B forest in Jeon Chang-gun, Jeonbuk-gun, a quasi-permanent conservation mountainous district, for the purpose of cultivating crops.

Summary of Evidence

1. Defendant's legal statement;

1. The practical survey report, location map, area of forest damage, field photographs of damaged areas, details of calculation of the amount of damage, total amount of damage, forest land register and forestry map, and application of the land utilization plan also under the statutes;

1. Article 53 subparagraph 1 of the Management of Mountainous Districts Act and the main sentence of Article 14 (1) of the Management of Mountainous Districts Act concerning criminal facts and the selection of punishment;

1. The grounds for sentencing under Article 62(1) of the Criminal Act (hereinafter “the grounds for suspended sentence”) are as follows: (a) the Defendant’s age, environment, motive, means and consequence of the commission of the crime; and (b) the number of factors for sentencing as indicated in the argument of the instant case, including the circumstances after the commission of the crime, shall be determined as set forth in the text.

[Unjustifiable circumstances] The Defendant reclaimed a considerable area of mountainous district without permission for the purpose of creating farmland.

The act of converting mountainous districts without permission is necessary to prevent it through appropriate punishment because it causes social losses by damaging forests that are minor, and requires considerable time and expenses for restoration to the original state.

【Legied circumstances】 Provided, That the defendant is against his/her dignity when he/she recognizes the crime.

The defendant is making full efforts to restore damaged mountainous district to its original state.

The Defendant is an initial offender who has no criminal record.